I'm 22 and Ready to Invest -- Now What?

At 22 years old, I've already seen how easy it is to fall into financial traps, and I've decided to finally take steps to ensure my future is secure beyond a paycheck-to-paycheck basis. Unfortunately, I'm lost on where to start.

I have read the advice guides and seen just about every tip and trick in the book about how to proceed, so I have a basic understanding of the options before me in terms of savings and investments to make. But when it comes to actually doing something with my hard-earned money, I've got cold feet.

The biggest investment cliché I keep running into tells me over and over not to put all my financial eggs in one basket. So I decide to go with that bit of guidance and get started.

The problem is, to keep diversified and keep my eggs in several places I might spread myself too thin. I'm still young, still in college, and haven't had a steady reliable source of income for long enough to build a significant amount to work with. I would estimate that I'm looking at a starting investment amount of $10,000 -- barely enough to open some higher-end accounts or funds, but certainly enough to do something with besides leave it in a low-yield savings account. But the concept of keeping things diverse is a wise one, so I just need to figure out how to diversify without putting such small amounts of money in each basket that it makes no sense or difference.

Before settling on what stocks and accounts to pursue, I have found that it's vitally important to take assessment of what risk I'm willing to take on with my finances. It's one thing to say that interest added a couple hundred dollars to my savings account balance, but if inflation has outpaced those earnings, then I really haven't made anything because I have no increased spending power. So to be able to ensure that I can potentially see increased returns on my investments, I'm going to need to assume some moderate risk.

Luckily, as a student I have very little in the way of current expenses. My part-time job during the semester covers daily activities, such as gas and food, and I could continue living comfortably in the event of economic problems without having to empty my emergency savings accounts. Therefore, my $10,000 is ready to invest and I'm able to assume some risk in order to increase my returns. While I certainly don't want to lose my principal investment, I can also understand the need to diversify across low and high-risk options. Keeping my eggs out of the same basket, so to speak.